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Apr 1, 2009 2:29 pm

I recieved a call from a one of our client's sister yesterday. She is retiring today and is wanted some investment advice for her 401k, pension, and some stock that she has. She is coming in today to fill out rollover paperwork. She has informed us that 200 other people are retiring from the same local company as her. This could be a goldmine.  I will be meeting the sister for the first time today when she comes to fill out the rollover paperwork and I dont want to scare her off by being overly aggressive in asking about her co-workers. What do you think would be the best way to approach this situation.

Apr 1, 2009 4:25 pm

In order for you to avoid appearing overly aggressive, you should definitely have her co-workers call me. 

Apr 1, 2009 4:40 pm

If she is still working there, send her “Congratulations on Retiring” balloons at work (you may have to hurry, but it’s only lunch time). Make sure they arrive as soon as possible, so that they will sit on her desk the rest of the day. I would guess that a LOT of people will ask her where they came from, and then your name, and what you have done for her, will come up.

Apr 1, 2009 7:45 pm

Listen, listen, listen. Get her in her comfort zone. Create trust and then work the referrals. You blow it with her, you’ve probably blown it with all the others.

Apr 1, 2009 8:48 pm
dixiepucks:

Listen, listen, listen. Get her in her comfort zone. Create trust and then work the referrals. You blow it with her, you’ve probably blown it with all the others.

  By the time that you truly create trust, the employees will all be retired.  They will have been contacted by 10 financial advisors and DNC restrictions will stop him from contacting them. 
Apr 1, 2009 10:27 pm

May be a little late, but call human resources and offer to do a free generic retirement/ rollover workshop on site. They’ll send notices in employee communications, no cost to you.

  Stok
Apr 1, 2009 11:36 pm
anonymous:

[quote=dixiepucks]Listen, listen, listen. Get her in her comfort zone. Create trust and then work the referrals. You blow it with her, you’ve probably blown it with all the others.

  By the time that you truly create trust, the employees will all be retired.  They will have been contacted by 10 financial advisors and DNC restrictions will stop him from contacting them.  [/quote]


Where does it say that it takes a long time to create trust? People trust me in minutes, not months.
Apr 1, 2009 11:40 pm

HAAIC, you are the exception.   Regardless, my point is that one needs to get referrals from the beginning of the relationship.  I certainly don’t create trust in the beginning if the relationship is cold.  Fortunately, I also believe that sales can be made before trust is made.

Apr 2, 2009 1:19 am

So she should have filled out the paperwork today.  Keep her in the loop on what is going on throughout the process.  Stay in contact with her… give exceptional service.  When the check comes in call her in, to go over your investment recommendations.

Clients are usually happy and in a trusting state once they agree to your recommendation.  Toward the end of that appt. shift into small talk and simply say what you know:

“I hear that many people in your company are retiring right now, do you know of anyone there that I might be able to help?”

Apr 2, 2009 1:49 am

I like the retirement balloons idea, very clever, I’m going to use that one.

Apr 2, 2009 5:17 pm

You are a little late. Ask her if there is anyone else you could help. Don’t be shy.

  Ask her for a copy of the plan document, if she has one. Read it, become an expert on her plan. Use this to approach other employees.   Usually, but not always, by the time the employees are in the final stages of leaving or closing shop the prime prospecting opportunity is past.   Still, there are exceptions. About 5 years ago a small company closed its doors putting about 120 people on the street. Not only was i late, i was later than late, coming in on a second meeting of the employees union. At the first meeting the local offices of ML and SB had given presentations. I was located 125 miles away. Bottom line- they really liked me. I opened over 70 accounts- mostly small stuff $100k to 130K. So getting 60% of the pool considering my late start was a big win.   To cultivate business like this find the larger employers in your area and get a plan document. become an expert on their plan and by doing so you become a resource for employees. Using this technique, my partner opened dozens of large rollovers for oil refinery employees. These were large rollovers ranging from $300k to over $2,000,000. The phone would ring- the caller would say- I heard you can answer some questions about my retirement plan- a month or two later the assets would roll in.  
Apr 16, 2009 2:33 pm

[quote=BondGuy]You are a little late. Ask her if there is anyone else you could help. Don’t be shy.

  Ask her for a copy of the plan document, if she has one. Read it, become an expert on her plan. Use this to approach other employees.   Usually, but not always, by the time the employees are in the final stages of leaving or closing shop the prime prospecting opportunity is past.   Still, there are exceptions. About 5 years ago a small company closed its doors putting about 120 people on the street. Not only was i late, i was later than late, coming in on a second meeting of the employees union. At the first meeting the local offices of ML and SB had given presentations. I was located 125 miles away. Bottom line- they really liked me. I opened over 70 accounts- mostly small stuff $100k to 130K. So getting 60% of the pool considering my late start was a big win.   To cultivate business like this find the larger employers in your area and get a plan document. become an expert on their plan and by doing so you become a resource for employees. Using this technique, my partner opened dozens of large rollovers for oil refinery employees. These were large rollovers ranging from $300k to over $2,000,000. The phone would ring- the caller would say- I heard you can answer some questions about my retirement plan- a month or two later the assets would roll in.  [/quote]   How did he do this? By simply calling the corporate directory and asking about if they have questions about their retirement plan?   I have a similar situation.. Chemical company getting rid of 300 or so employees with in the next month..